More Timely Than Ever!

Friday, February 01, 2013

Hagelian Synthesis

Much is being made of former senator Chuck Hagel's seeming lack of preparation for his Senate confirmation hearing yesterday and his rough handling by Republican senators about statements he made about Israel, the "Jewish Lobby," Iran, Iraq, and more. However, something important has been missed in the post-hearing analysis, namely, that Hagel couldn't candidly answer the questions about his past statements because he wants to be secretary of defense [sic].

I'm quite sure Hagel could cite at least one instance in which the Lobby intimidated a member of Congress. Anyone who says this doesn't happen is lying or willfully ignorant. Nor would he have trouble naming something "dumb" Congress has done under pressure from the Lobby. A good place to start would be the enabling of Israel's subjugation of the Palestinians and its building of illegal Jewish-only settlements on land owned by Palestinians, a policy that alienates Muslims and gives them reason to despise America.

There's only one reason that Hagel disavowed his earlier statements and played coy with the Republican senators: He wants to run the Pentagon.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sheldon,

On a related note, have you seen the currently Oscar nominated documentary, "The Gatekeepers"? It "tells the story of the Israeli Shin Bet from the perspective of six former heads of Israel’s secretive internal security service".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gatekeepers_(film)

Richard G.

Sheldon Richman said...

I've not seen the documentary yet, but I saw an interview with the director. I hope to see it soon. The other day I watched "Five Broken Cameras" on Netflix. It's very good.

Anonymous said...

Interestingly, there is another currently Oscar nominated doc called "5 Broken Cameras". It's "a first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil'in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Broken_Cameras

Richard G.

Anonymous said...

D'oh you beat me to it!

Richard G.

Sheldon Richman said...

:)